On the last day of Christmas

It's hard to believe that Christmas is over. I hate how, in an effort to get time off after Christmas, I work all the way up to Christmas thereby missing out on the festivities and cheer. I'm going to try to do things differently next year.

It was a very nice Christmas though. I got off work Tues and headed to the homestead to spend the night. Michal was stringing popcorn, Mama was making pies, Peter was chatting to his friends online, and Joy was blessing us with loud Christmas music. Michal made me cry when she lost the thread off of her needle and didn't realize it until she had threaded a small pile of popcorn straight off her needle and onto the floor. She was amazed at how smoothly it was falling down the thread. :-) J got sent on a trip Christmas eve which meant he was able to spend Christmas day with us instead of sitting ready reserve at the airport. We had a nice breakfast around noon when everyone woke up, and then a scrumptious dinner later when we had room in our stomachs again. I missed having Christine, Scott, and Israel with us, but Christine mailed their presents and that's what really matters :-P.

Yesterday I slept as long as I could, then went out into the crowds to shop with the family. I'm not much of a shopper anyway, but after Christmas is a miserable time to be at stores. I've never seen so many people out. I rediscovered that the younger four children have as different of fashion taste as possible. Peter is always dissatisfied with my plain, comfortable choices. I'm shocked by Joy's wild and bright selections. Michal is 12 yrs younger than I am so I don't expect to like the same things as her. This is why I don't buy clothes for anyone.

After surviving that I headed to the TanJoe manor for pizza and hanging out with TanJoe and Jamie. Tanya's foot seems to be healing well, and gives me hope for the future. She has become quite a graceful hopper.

I decided not to leave for South Africa until Sunday. The flight today had space on it, but there were a lot of standbys and it's hard to tell where I fall on the list. There are only a few on standby tomorrow, and after the month I've had an extra day at home is a beautiful thing. I've been feeling apprehensive about the flight all week. I'm not sure why. I dreamed that I couldn't handle being on a plane that long (it'll take 19 hours to get there including the 1.5 hour stop in Dakar). The other thing that worries me is the thought of getting stuck in Dakar. Some people say they take on cargo there and I could get bumped off. This could be an airline myth... I don't want to find out. So in light of my apprehension I have put zero thought into preparation. I remember the first few times I went it seemed like I put weeks into preparation. I'm wondering if that was necessary, or maybe it was just because I was a novice. I guess I'll find out when I start throwing stuff in my bag later today.

I made some coffee just now using the Jones coffee maker for the first time, and I think I made it too strong. I feel like my head could explode. Is that normal? I'm so put out that I have a barista in my family and I still have to make my own coffee ;-).

I've been doing a pretty good job keeping my room neat. A few things have accumulated on the floor, but a load of laundry and putting the wrapping paper should return it to its previous state of neatness. I'm learning to enjoy it, thereby doing whatever necessary to keep it that way.

I'm off to pack. I'll probably be on a plane or in Africa next time I write (that thought actually gave me a little thrill :-D.)

Finally taking the time

I believe I have just finished my last night of work at work part two. I had considered maintaining a friendly alliance in case I need to work again once my foot heals, but after my experiences the last two week, tonight's being the cake-taker, I'm finished. I work too hard to be treated the way I was treated, and I'm sick of it.

I have worked every single day this month except the last two Sundays. I know there are a lot of people who work harder than I do, but I'm having a pity party right now so bear with me (or stop reading).

Once again I worked in a ridiculously large house. This time, though, the decorations were much more tasteful. I met a DL flight attendant of 37 years who told me she could've gotten me a job there last year. It's tempting to think of the destinations, but I still think not getting hired was for the best. I also think I need to get out of the service industry, but that's another rant for another day.

This week I did a 3 day on the 50. It was pretty decent, but a lot of work. I didn't think my voice was going to make it through that last 5 leg day. I was part of a lot of people getting home for Christmas, which helped me enjoy the trip. One of them was my cousin Neil coming home from UVA. I'm not sure which of us was more surprised to see the other when he got on the plane. It was fun though. A three year old boy told his mother he was going to marry me. We stayed mostly in the southeast for the entire trip and I was reinforced in my belief that passengers in the southeast are friendlier. They smile at me. They make small talk. They acknowledge my existence. It's crazy.

Thursday I got my chipped tooth fixed, and for some reason when I went in there I didn't think about the fact that they would have to numb my mouth. Shots in the mouth make me miserable. Four hours later my mouth was still numb, and because my tongue and throat are already retarded I nearly suffocated on some waffle fries when they kept falling onto the numb side of mouth and getting stuck. My tooth looks beautiful though.

My other excitement for the week was my haircut. It had been a long time and my hair was getting out of control. I love the feeling of a fresh, short haircut.

Last night I did a Montgomery nap. It was about as good as a nap can get. We were on time. I got about 5 hours of sleep. We left there at 5:45am and before we had even taken off a guy started throwing up. I had been warned that he wasn't feeling well so I gave him extra puke bags. He told me he had eaten too much. Honey, does this look like my first flight? How many people eat too much at 5am on Saturday? Do you think I don't know what a hangover looks like? Right... Regardless of his reasons, I have a soft spot in my heart for pukers. He managed to throw up 2 more times before we landed in Atlanta 26 minutes later. I think it's a record.

Tomorrow I get to see Joy, and Peter, J, and Jamie will be home when I get back from my three day. I'm looking forward to it. I still haven't really been able to put any energy into thinking about going to South Africa, even though it's in less than a week from now.

Tomorrow is going to be a good, work-free day.

PS. My room has been clean almost all month.


Currently reading: Treasure Island By Robert Louis Stevenson

The sky is falling

As I left work tonight I saw a shooting star. On the drive home I saw two more. I had also seen one last night. I was starting to think there must be something afoot in the skies. Jamie suggested aliens. As I unpacked my stuff from the car I saw the most brilliant shooting star I've ever seen. I gazed at the sky a while longer and saw 3 more within two minutes. Evidently tonight is the Geminid meteor shower. I wrapped up and went back outside but the cloud were already starting to move over so I didn't see any more. I feel really fortunate to have seen so many beautiful shooting stars/meteors. Though, on nights like tonight I do wish I lived farther away from all the city lights.

One of my favorite memories as a teenager was getting wrapped up in pajamas and blankets, taking a carton of ice cream and lying on the Louis' driveway in the middle of winter to watch a meteor shower with Jenny.

I did work part two last night and tonight. Now that I've paid off my loan I find it extremely difficult to go to that job. Especially when I'm missing all kinds of holiday fun. Last night we had a Christmas party at a ridiculous house. I need to find a way to convey the general oddness of the people there. No one was outright weird, but there were so many little things that made me laugh inside. It's interesting to be invited into people's homes and be the silent observers of their parties and lives.

The hostess last night had about 10 prescription bottles on her kitchen counter, and I have a feeling she had taken all of them. She wore a black sweater and pants outfit. It had gold thread woven throughout. The pants were stirrups. There were odd leaf-like pieces of fabric sewn across the chest and shoulders with huge gold grommets randomly attached. I was amazed that someone who seemed to have so much money could still be dress so ugly. She wandered around the house looking like she had just woken up and wasn't sure why we were there. Every available surface was covered in Christmas decorations. I started to count all the figures but after I got through about 5 feet in the living room I realized it would be too much. The area rugs were Christmas. The slip covers for the chairs at the breakfast table were Santa hats. There was an entire Christmas village set out, as well as three or four other houses and trains. Every available post and banister had garlands and wreaths. Every other step going upstairs had a Christmas themed doll or Santa Claus on it. The yard had three different types of decorations, and the windows on the front of the house all hand some kind of light up word in them. Its making me tired just thinking about it.

Last night I stayed up late talking to Matt who skipped through town, and today I went to Kathryn's Kara's three year old birthday party. It's been a crazy weekend - and it isn't over yet.

A nice break from the cold

I guess all good things must eventually come to an end. My 23.5 hour overnight in Key West has been extended by a couple of hours due to bad weather in Atlanta, but it looks like the plane is finally on the way down here. The bad part is that it looks like we'll be getting to Albany, NY sometime early tomorrow morning.

The last day has been delightful. The weather is amazing. I spent a few hours on the beach earlier. It was really windy, which I love (except when I'm trying to read a newspaper - but I guess that's what I get for trying to read the paper on the beach). The water is full of seaweed which is kind of gross. I had a good time watching the kite surfers or whatever they're called. I also went for a run with my FO. It was the first time I've ever run with someone that I was in better shape than :-D. The rest of the time I've been enjoying my beautiful suite. I think I could live here (in this suite) all winter.

The plane has finally taken off from Atlanta so I'm going to start getting ready.

I've reached that point

The one where I've been cleaning and sorting and throwing away and now I'm sitting on the floor surrounded by things that have no home.

As I look around I see:
- a wallet I don't currently use but holds all my cards I don't use on a regular basis.
- expensive eye drops
- lotions from multiple hotels
- two wooden foot massagers
- a pint glass (okay, that goes in the kitchen)
- a water bottle off the plane
- the remote for my fan which has now been replaced by my space heater
- a cd some guy gave me on a plane
- chapstick, chapstick, chapstick
- scissors
- Tinkerbell change purse
- red scarf I started knitting for my Grandma
- black scart I started knitting for myself
- empty camera case
- camera
- individual packs of Starbucks coffee
- pot holder a passenger knitted for me
- Q-tips
- key for disassembling my bed
- flavored cigars someone gave me
- papers I need to do something about, but can't right now
- my external hard drive
- wax strips that don't work
- wax in a pot that doesn't work
- extra sunglasses

This is giving me a headache, but it has given me a better view of what to do with some of the stuff. Somehow when you write down that something doesn't work, it makes you see that regardless of the fact that it cost $7, you should throw it away. I just started listening to the cd. It sounds like the woman is in a lot of pain. I wonder if being cluttered and messy is something that is ingrained in my DNA - something I'll struggle with my whole life - or if it's something I can eventually change for good. I guess I'll only know if I keep trying.

This is your captain speaking

It's a good thing someone around here is willing to take responsibility and check on our planes/flights. I woke up around 4 but have been postponing actually getting up as long as possible. Finally around 4:30, after I'd checked everything else online, I decided to check on our flight before getting in the shower. Yesterday we had joked about getting snowed in until later today so we wouldn't have to work 5 flights. Turns out someone took care of it for us. Our plane is [sick] and won't be well until around 3 this afternoon. I then called my captain, who in turn called flight control to confirm these shenanigans.

So now that I've been asleep since 8pm I don't know what to do. I woke up around 9pm feeling extremely confused. I thought it was morning and I had overslept. I looked out the window and could only see white so I thought there really had been a blizzard. There was a missed call from scheduling. Turns out I'd only been sleeping for an hour and they were calling because on behalf of another flight attendant who wanted me to contact her about trading my trip.

And that's all I have for 4:53am from Grand Rapids. Over.

Baby, it's cold outside

Snowflakes the size of oyster crackers have been falling, off and on, all day here in Grand Rapids. It seems they should have closed the airport or called in the National Guard by now. That's what we'd do in Georgia anyway.

After almost two weeks of not working this week has brought me soundly back to reality. It seems all I've done is work, with a little time at home for sleep at night. It has been a very productive week though. I have 30:49 flight hours for the week. With the airlines cutting their schedules for the last few months it's been really difficult to get the number of hours I'm used. It would be easier if I didn't have another job, or if I was willing to work every weekend, but I'm hoping and praying that if I'm persistent I'll come up with the hours. I spent the entire afternoon today in front of my computer refreshing our open time pot. This is where all the unassigned trips go, as well as the trips other flight attendants are trying to drop or trade. I managed to get a few things, but it took the whole day.

I went to the foot doctor yesterday before work and scheduled my surgery for Jan. 29. This adds to the pressure of getting more flight time this month. I'm not too worried though. I have to do everything possible, and make sure my priorities are in order, but in the end there is only so much I can do. I'm not willing to give up everything just to get more flight time. I'm not giving up my trip to South Africa or Christmas with my family :-).

When we arrived in GRR I saw a man that I had met on a flight from Toronto earlier this year. It was a bizarre coincidence. Thankfully his was a smiling face, and I'm always happy to see one of those.

I finished "Three Cups of Tea" the other day. It's a book about a mountaineer who has made it his life goal to build schools in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan in an effort to improve their world. I wasn't completely sold on the writing style. There were too many three syllable adjectives. I felt it silly to describe water in the Himalayas as "alpine blue". But it is a great story and helped me view that part of the world from a completely different (better) perspective. He has been working there for over a decade and the book explains a lot about what their countries are like geographically, the politics and religion (including the Taliban), and what the lives of regular citizens look like (before and during the war). Reading books like this is one of my favorite ways to learn more about a different place. Plus, this man is doing really courageous, heroic things for the women and children there.

I'm hoping to get over 8 hours of sleep tonight. I've been struggling to stay awake since we got here around 3, and since I have to get up at 4am now is an acceptable time for bed. I thought I had gotten over the cold I had around Thanksgiving, but it's either still here, or I have something else bothering my ears, and it's been making me feel nauseated on my flights. Add tiredness to that and it's difficult for me to be a cheerful, happy flight attendant. So now I sleep.

Currently reading : Ancestor Stones By Aminatta Forna